[One Thousand Characters a Day] Morning Opened with The Analects <3>

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for the 'One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters' newsletter readers. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, notable columns, and famous speeches. Here is an excerpt from the third installment of ＜Morning with the Analects＞, titled ＜The Teacher Called Frozen Shoulder＞. The text contains 1,024 characters.

The reason we become happier as we age is that we come to realize the impermanence of life. Although we no longer laugh out loud watching leaves fall like we did in childhood, we learn to sense and appreciate the small changes brought by the cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In spring, we are grateful for the budding sprouts; in summer, we appreciate the freshness of green leaves; in autumn, we are intoxicated by the beauty of bright red foliage; and in winter, we are captivated by the purity of snowflakes resting on tree branches. Money, fame, or the arrogance and stubbornness of believing only oneself is right melt away like ice cream under the midsummer sun in the face of life's finiteness. Only the beauty that nature offers captures my gaze.

Not long ago, a text message from a listener during a live radio broadcast left a strong impression on me, so I saved it on my phone and often take it out to read.

"I live farming tangerines in Jeju. When the tangerines are green, it is summer; when yellow mixes with green, it is autumn. Looking at bright yellow tangerines tells me winter has come, and when the scent of tangerine blossoms stings my nose, I know spring has returned."

It was a simple and brief message about feeling the seasons through nature’s changes, but it remains deeply touching. The listener who sent that message must be practicing the carefree wandering (逍遙遊, soyo-yu) that Zhuangzi spoke of. They surely enjoy each day as a gift from heaven, living a joyful and free life as if on a picnic. The reason we become happier with age is that although both mind and body stiffen, we can look at life through the 'eyes of the heart' that perceive life as a picnic.

Though my shoulders ache, when I wake up in the morning and take a shower, I am filled with a strange happiness each time the warm water wets my body. The aroma of a cup of coffee I drink after showering doubles that happiness. The intense happiness I enjoyed in my youth has disappeared, but I now savor happiness more frequently and gradually. For some reason, I find myself smiling at trivial things. Happiness comes not from intensity but from frequency. The joy and ecstasy brought by adrenaline have faded, but these days I am immersed in the happiness brought by serotonin. This is exactly why we become happier as we age.

- Kim Hoonjong, ＜Morning with the Analects＞, HanbitBiz, 16,800 KRW